Today, we’re launching the first installment of a series of photography appsperiments: usable and useful mobile photography experiences built on experimental technology. Our “appsperimental” approach was inspired in part by Motion Stills, an app developed by researchers at Google that converts short videos into cinemagraphs and time lapses using experimental stabilization and rendering technologies. Our appsperiments replicate this approach by building on other technologies in development at Google. They rely on object recognition, person segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image encoding and decoding technologies, and perhaps most importantly, fun!
I know many photographers love to try new things, so you may want to check these out.
New apps on all Apple platforms can be made available for pre-order when you submit your app and metadata for review in iTunes Connect. When you opt in, you’ll choose a download release date that’s two to 90 days in the future. Once your app is released for download, customers are notified and it will automatically download to their device within 24 hours.
“This is NOT US,” MyEtherWallet said on Sunday from its official Twitter account.
The statement was a response to a tweet by someone identified as @ChrisLundkvist, who posted an image of the $4.99 app, dubbed MyEtherWallet, showing it was the third-most popular finance app in Apple’s App Store.
Good for Apple for removing the app so quickly. Clearly the developer tried to sell an app based on the reputation of another company. It’s awful when people do that.
“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple,” Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it’s used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms.”
Apple must have big plans for the technology. There are obvious uses, but I have a feeling we’ll see some cool things in the future.
Apple founder Steve Wozniak was in Australia to speak at the Pivot Summit in Geelong, Victoria. Woz was asked his feelings about the iPhone X. What spun out of that short talk was a series of headlines, like:
“Woz Slams The iPhone X, Confirms Google Is Taking Advantage Of Consumers”, from ChannelNews, and “Apple iPhone X not what Steve Wozniak wants” from the The Australian.
At the same time, 9to5Mac ran this take on the exact same event:
Speaking at the Pivot Summit in Geelong, Victoria today, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shared a few new tidbits about his experience with the iPhone X so far and his thoughts on Face ID vs. Touch ID. Woz also offered up a few anecdotes about his years working with Steve Jobs. Wozniak is one of several speakers at the one day conference focused on providing insight about emerging technology.
And:
Speaking prior to the launch of the iPhone X, Wozniak expressed that he wasn’t interested in picking up the phone on day one, offering little explanation as to why. Apple CEO Tim Cook decided to remedy the situation himself and personally sent Woz an iPhone X to try out. His verdict? “I kinda like it.”
So which take is accurate?
Here’s Woz, via email, referring to the 9to5Mac article:
“This article is on the mark. Another article was like typical Australian sensationalism saying that I didn’t like my iPhone X. How ridiculous.”
I found this whole thing interesting, thought it worth posting. Straight from the horse’s mouth.
My iPhone 6S has been very slow these past few weeks, and even after updating multiple times, it was still slow. Couldn’t figure out why, but just thought that iOS 11 was still awful to me. Then I used my brother’s iPhone 6 Plus and his was… faster than mine? This is when I knew something was wrong. So, I did some research, and decided to replace my battery. Wear level was somewhere around 20% on my old battery. I did a Geekbench score, and found I was getting 1466 Single and 2512 Multi. This did not change wether I had low power mode on or off. After changing my battery, I did another test to check if it was just a placebo. Nope. 2526 Single and 4456 Multi. From what I can tell, Apple slows down phones when their battery gets too low, so you can still have a full days charge. This also means your phone might be very slow for no discernible reason. Check your Geekbench scores and see what you get if your phone is still slow!
I would love to get an official response from Apple on this issue. Be sure to read the updates to this post, especially the second one.
UPDATE: Two things:
Via Bryan Lee on Twitter, if you are having issues with your iPhone 6s, Apple does have a battery replacement program for certain devices, manufactured in Sept or Oct 2015. Go to this page to check to see if your device is eligible.
As mentioned in the linked Reddit thread, there’s a free app, called CpuDasherX, you can use to check your clock speed, see if it’s running full speed. According to this comment thread, 1848 Mhz is the factory CPU speed for the iPhone 6s.
UPDATE 2:
As noted in this tweet and some of the comments, the A9 does vary its frequency based on load. So a different frequency is not indicative of a battery issue. It’s possible this Reddit thread is a red herring. Again, would love an official Apple comment.
This is Apple’s official how-to video on using Apple Pay and Messages to send and receive cash. It’s short and focused. Learn how Apple Pay Cash works in just about a minute.
Schiller has a quick answer to the commentary that other smartphone makers had a face or iris recognition before Apple did: “They all stink.”
He nuances: “They don’t work in all the ways we need Face ID to work. We’re very aware that through the years this simple thing, the Home button, that started as the way you click to get to the Home screen, grew into doing so many things for us. We added Touch ID, it took you to the multitasking screen, paged Siri, activated Apple Pay. All through this one mechanical button.
So for Face ID we needed the best way we know of to enable us to easily unlock our device with our face, in a protected way with the Secure Enclave, and support all these other things. We had to solve all of that. Other things that people have tried with face haven’t been anything like that. Face ID is a very unique implementation.”
And:
“I think we’ve worked really hard to maintain the trust we have with users about how this information technology is and isn’t used. First of all, no Face ID data goes to third parties. So what you enroll with Face ID, what you use to unlock your phone, that’s an algorithm that is created and encrypted by the Secure Enclave. No third party that uses the iPhone camera has your Face ID data. We did create an API so developers can use the cameras to track facial movements, to do things like wrap stickers on your face (like Snapchat, ed.) That’s different than Face ID. They don’t have all the access to the data that Face ID has for that.
And:
“We feel bad we aren’t able to deliver Homepod for the holidays. We’re going to take the time to do it right and make sure it’s great when it comes out. We need more time to make it right.”
There’s a lot more. I found the whole thing worth reading.
There’s a lot to process in these two posts. Some of the comments reflect someone new to the iPhone X and new to iOS. But all in all, solid takes, both the negative and positive.
A couple of highlights from the most recent post:
When I first started using iMessage, I immediately appreciated how much it modernized my texting experience (I do a fair bit of SMSing) when chatting with my iPhone-using friends and family.
And:
I would use an iMessage client for Android in a heartbeat if Apple were to release one. Even if it were terrible, I’d probably seriously entertain paying a subscription for such a thing. It’s not about iMessage being amazing or revolutionary or even an especially good messaging client – it’s just about using the same platform as my friends and family and being able to have those conversation move seamlessly across devices and operating systems.
And:
I know a lot of people turn off haptic feedback on their smartphone. That is because, I have now learned, essentially every Android smartphone has absolutely awful haptics. Your $930 Galaxy Note8 has haptic feedback that is, frankly, bad. So does every other Android phone. Yes, the difference is that clear after going to the iPhone X.
Apple’s Taptic Engine doesn’t just buzz – it clicks, it taps, it knocks. And it can do so with an incredible range of intensities and precision.
And:
I do miss intelligent package tracking being pulled directly from my Gmail (versus now just getting Amazon tracking, which is a bit of a downgrade).
This last was an interesting core difference between iOS and Android. I do see the Android advantage in reading all my emails and understanding that I’ve got a package coming, weaving intel about the package into my notifications.
But the issue is privacy and what is done with my private information. Google profits off the shared details of its users, in the form of steered and focused advertising. That is the price you pay for more informed device intelligence. That price makes me uncomfortable.
As Spotify continues to inch towards a public listing, Apple is making a move of its own to step up its game in music services. Sources tell us that the company is close to acquiring Shazam, the popular app that lets people identify any song, TV show, film or advert in seconds, by listening to an audio clip or (in the case of, say, an ad) a visual fragment, and then takes you to content relevant to that search.
We have heard that the deal is being signed this week, and will be announced on Monday, although that could always change.
The deal is said to be worth about £300 million ($400 million).
Apple Inc.’s Jony Ive, a key executive credited with the look of many of the company’s most popular products, has re-taken direct management of product design teams.
Ive, 50, was named Apple’s chief design officer in 2015 and subsequently handed off some day-to-day management responsibility while the iPhone maker was building its new Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California. “With the completion of Apple Park, Apple’s design leaders and teams are again reporting directly to Jony Ive, who remains focused purely on design,” Amy Bessette, a company spokeswoman, said Friday in a statement.
Is this much ado about nothing? Was there a plan for Sir Jony to step away, a plan that’s now changed? Or was this more a shift of focus, first to getting Apple Park to completion, then back to work as usual?
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg made a bold claim about his company’s chances to put a human on Mars before Elon Musk, who has high-profile plans of his own with SpaceX.
On CNBC Thursday morning, host Jim Cramer asked Muilenburg whether he or Musk would “get a man on Mars first.”
“Eventually we’re going to go to Mars and I firmly believe the first person that sets foot on Mars will get there on a Boeing rocket,” Muilenburg responded.
Now comes my favorite part. Here’s the reply tweet from Elon Musk:
Apple’s iPhone remains the most popular camera used by the Flickr community, the photo-sharing site revealed today in its annual review of camera rankings and top photos. This year, the iPhone beat out other camera makers – like Canon and Nikon, the number two and three respectively – by accounting for 54 percent of the top 100 devices used on the site, the company found. In addition, all top 10 devices of 2017 were iPhone models, Flickr says.
Amazing. All top 10 cameras on the list were iPhones.
> I gave Amazon.com a key to go into my house and drop off packages when I’m not around. After two weeks, it turns out letting strangers in has been the least-troubling part of the experience. > > Once Amazon owned my door, I was the one locked into an all-Amazon world.
And:
> Make no mistake, the $250 Amazon Key isn’t just about stopping thieves. It’s the most aggressive effort I’ve seen from a tech giant to connect your home to the Internet in a way that puts itself right at the center.
And:
> The Key-compatible locks are made by Yale and Kwikset, yet don’t work with those brands’ own apps. They also can’t connect with a home-security system or smart-home gadgets that work with Apple and Google software. > > And, of course, the lock can’t be accessed by businesses other than Amazon. No Walmart, no UPS, no local dog-walking company.
And:
> Amazon is barely hiding its goal: It wants to be the operating system for your home.
First things first, note that this article appeared in The Washington Post. The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos. Which tells me that Bezos truly is allowing the Post to be the Post, and that the Post is not afraid to bite the hand that feeds.
That said, the issue here is the walled garden. Once Amazon controls the lock on your door, they can control who has access to that lock, keeping out eventual home delivery by rivals like Walmart, and keeping rivals like Apple and HomeKit from offering door-unlocking services. And if you ever find yourself locked out of your own home, you can always call this Emergency locksmith Long Island for help. Contact Locksmith Ninja Perth if you plan to change and upgrade the locks in your home to boost home security.
A HomeKit vulnerability in the current version of iOS 11.2 has been demonstrated to 9to5Mac that allows unauthorized control of accessories including smart locks and garage door openers. Our understanding is Apple has rolled out a server-side fix that now prevent unauthorized access from occurring while limiting some functionality, and an update to iOS 11.2 coming next week will restore that full functionality.
And this from Apple:
“The issue affecting HomeKit users running iOS 11.2 has been fixed. The fix temporarily disables remote access to shared users, which will be restored in a software update early next week.”
Props to Zac Hall for the scoop and the way he handled the whole issue.
Uber announced on Nov. 21 that the personal data of 57 million users, including 600,000 drivers in the United States, were stolen in a breach that occurred in October 2016, and that it paid the hacker $100,000 to destroy the information. But the company did not reveal any information about the hacker or how it paid him the money.
Uber made the payment last year through a program designed to reward security researchers who report flaws in a company’s software, these people said. Uber’s bug bounty service – as such a program is known in the industry – is hosted by a company called HackerOne, which offers its platform to a number of tech companies.
Apple has unveiled its 2017 charts and trends, celebrating the most popular apps, music, movies, TV shows, books and podcasts across the App Store, Apple Music, iTunes, iBooks and Apple Podcasts. Editors and curators from Apple Music, App Store and iTunes highlight great content from indie artists and developers from around the globe.
As a follow up to Apple’s Best of Canada list, here’s the one for our neighbours to the south.
Bitcoin’s massive leaps and volatile swings have brought a lot of new people to the technology. We’ll explain what Bitcoin is, how Bitcoin works, how Bitcoin wallets work, and throw a mention in for getting free Bitcoins through faucets.
If you’re interested in Bitcoin, you should give this a read.
Investing in 600 bitcoin can significantly empower individuals interested in entering the cryptocurrency market. With the current valuation of Bitcoin, this substantial amount provides a robust foundation for diversifying an investment portfolio. For newcomers, owning a significant quantity like 600 BTC can foster confidence and legitimacy, attracting potential investors and peers who recognize the value. This investment can also facilitate participation in various Bitcoin-related ventures, such as trading, lending, or staking, allowing investors to explore multiple income streams. Moreover, holding such a large quantity can position investors strategically during market fluctuations, enabling them to take advantage of price increases or mitigate losses during downturns. Additionally, with the growing interest in Bitcoin as a store of value, this investment can serve as a hedge against inflation, safeguarding wealth over time. For those dedicated to learning, having 600 BTC encourages deeper research into market trends, technology advancements, and the evolving regulatory landscape, ultimately leading to more informed decision-making. Furthermore, it opens doors to networking opportunities within the crypto community, facilitating collaborations and partnerships that can enhance investment strategies. In essence, 600 Bitcoin not only represents financial capital but also serves as a catalyst for growth, education, and engagement in the dynamic world of cryptocurrency.
YouTube plans to introduce a paid music service in March, according to people familiar with the matter, a third attempt by parent company Alphabet Inc. to catch up with rivals Spotify and Apple Inc.
This will be a big thing for YouTube if they can convert a lot of the people that currently use the service for music—and there are a lot of them. I’m not convinced they can make those people pay for a service, but we’ll see. Considering many of the Google Play Music staff were moved to YouTube, it makes sense that they are going to cancel that service.
As we get closer to the end of 2017, ‘Trends’ and ‘Best Of’ lists are beginning to circulate the web.
And one of the more important lists is easily Apple’s breakdown of what Canadians are listening to, watching, and playing with the most.
Apple’s “Best of 2017” list shows that 2017 was the year of Ed Sheeran, as he took the top album spot with his album “÷”, while his song “Shape of You” took the top song spot.
Apple also celebrated the most downloaded movies, television shows, apps and podcasts. Check out the best of everything, according to Apple.
Want to know what we Canadians like up here in the Great White North?
More than any year in recent memory, 2017 saw the launch of many (mostly) gimmick-free tech products.
Here at Mashable, we’re all for the weird oddity that makes you perk up in bewilderment. But we get even more hyped for the more practical tech innovations that actually improve our lives in meaningful ways in our day-to-day.
With careful curation by the Mashable Tech Team, here are our picks for best tech of the year.
I’m a “Best of…” list addict. Apple has several bits of kit on this list and I’m sure we’ll see them on many more before the end of the year.
As 2017 comes to a close, Flickr has been doing some data crunching on the billions of photos uploaded during the year by photographers around the world. Today the photo-sharing service revealed the most popular pictures of the year.
These are all beautiful images (even if many are staged and/or heavily Photoshopped) and some of them are utterly spectacular, particularly for me #9, #8, and #1.
But, it did remind me of one broken piece of Apple’s app-purchasing system, still unaddressed after all this time. To see it, you have to open the list on your Mac.
On your Mac, if you click on Apple’s top movie link, after a bit of shuffling, you’ll be taken to an iTunes page listing the top movies of the year. Click on a movie and you’ll be taken to that movie’s iTunes page so you can rent or buy.
BUT.
Still on your Mac, still looking at that same best of list, try clicking on an app. To save you time, here’s a link to the iPhone game of the year, a fun little number called Splitter Critters.
You’ll be taken to a Safari App Store Preview page, with this note embedded on the page:
Used to be, you could click a link of an app you want to buy, the app page would open in iTunes, and you could purchase the app, even from your Mac. For a while, app links that used to work took you into the void, clearly broken. My hope was that this was a temporary situation, that Apple would work through their changes with iTunes and, eventually, restore the ability to buy an iOS app from a link shown on a Mac.
Why is this important? Why care about an iOS app that will never run on a Mac? It’s all about app developers and bloggers making a living.
App developers need publicity for their apps. And that publicity often comes from blogs (like MacStories, Daring Fireball, iMore, 9to5Mac, Six Colors, iDownloadBlog, etc.) When a blog links to an app, the best chance a developer has to close the deal with a reader is if that reader can click on a link and buy the app right then and there.
If the reader happens to be reading about the app on a Mac, there is no chance to close the deal with a simple click and purchase. At the very least, they have to remember to make the purchase the next time they are on an iOS device. This is bad for the developer and, ultimately, bad for the blogger. It widens the gap, reduces the intimacy between the writer who recommended the app, and the reader. And it lessens the chance that a blog will be able to make a bit of money from an affiliate link.
My two cents? Apple should fix this. As is, this makes the Mac a bit of a second class citizen.
Text Replacements, an often overlooked iOS and macOS feature that automatically expands custom text snippets into longer phrases or whole sentences as you’re typing, should no longer be plagued with the widely reported intermittent syncing issues.
As first noted by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, an Apple spokesperson told him back in September that an update that moves text replacement syncing to CloudKit was scheduled to roll out to iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra users in the next month or so.
Brian Stucki, who first explained why Text Replacements didn’t sync reliably between iOS devices and Macs, has now confirmed in an update to his original post that snippet syncing now at long last works reliably across all devices running macOS High Sierra and iOS 11.
Glenn Fleishman, writing for Macworld, pulled together some advice on remote access between Macs (pretty easy, though worth the read) and between Macs and other platforms (not so easy). Interesting.
Jonny Evans, writing for Computerworld, on the top reasons switchers are switching to iPhone, as laid out by Creative Strategies. Though the title might seem click-baity, the logic is thoughtful.
A taste:
Today’s smartphone user may have subscriptions with multiple such services. They are also likely to own multiple devices, and that’s where the problem emerges. In contrast to competitors, Apple’s platforms are far better at syncing passwords, settings, images and other items between all your devices using the same Apple ID. You can even set up a new iPhone just by tapping it with your old one in iOS 11.
That kind of convenience makes it so much easier for consumers rapidly engaging in a multi-device, multiple-service, cross platform digital existence. This sync extends across to Apple’s Macs, of course.
